The Daily Money

ALL THE MONEY NEWS YOU NEED TO KNOW

Thu May 2 2024

Daniel de Visé | Personal Finance Reporter

Good morning! It's Daniel de Visé with your Daily Money.

My colleague, Jim Sergent, woke up on April 1 and noticed an email from Tesla on his phone: What? Free self-driving mode on his Model Y for the entire month?

As it was April Fool's Day, Jim guessed Elon Musk was playing a joke on Tesla drivers. He'd hop in the car, fire up the feature and trigger a video on the center screen of Musk wagging his finger and laughing.

But no, Musk was good to his word.

Here's what Jim learned from a month with Tesla doing the driving.

Fed passes on interest-rate cuts, again

The Federal Reserve held its key interest rate steady again Wednesday and gave no signal that it plans to lower it anytime soon, following a resurgence of inflation early this year.

In a statement after a two-day meeting, the Fed pointedly said: "In recent months, there has been a lack of further progress toward the (Fed's) 2 percent inflation objective."

Concerns about persistent inflation suggest the Fed likely won't be prepared to cut rates for at least a few months, if not longer.

How will this affect the stock market? Mortgage rates? The economy?

Read our full report.

📰 More stories you shouldn't miss 📰

•	How much is an hour of your time worth?
•	Trump vows to crush 'anti-white' racism
•	Over-50 Americans fretful about retirement
•	Check out this 'unstoppable' growth stock
•	All about I bonds

📰 A great read 📰

Finally, here's a popular story from earlier this year that you may have missed. Read it! Share it!

Spring cleaning can mean tidying up your wallet or pocketbook, as well as your closet.

In the spirit of renewal, here are 12 financial moves you should make this spring, which is already halfway over. Some are annual rituals, or should be. Others are tasks we tend to put off, but shouldn't.

Start cleaning!

About The Daily Money

Each weekday, The Daily Money delivers the best consumer news from USA TODAY. We break down financial news and provide the TLDR version: how decisions by the Federal Reserve, government and companies impact you.

Daniel de Visé covers personal finance for USA Today.